Video Surveillance Cameras Protect More Than Staff at Correctional Facilities

In the realm of corrections, the safeguarding of inmates has emerged as a key concern for governmental and legislative entities. Previously, video surveillance was mainly employed to ensure the safety of staff; however, it is now also utilized to safeguard inmates. For instance, courts are now requiring that any legal cases pertaining to a correctional institution must include some type of video evidence to substantiate the claims being made. This encompasses cases related to excessive force, negligence, and wilful disregard for an inmate's medical requirements.

Meeting PREA requirements using video surveillance

A crucial aspect of inmate safety involves the prevention of rape and other forms of sexual assault. The Federal Government of the United States has instituted regulations that correctional institutions are required to adhere to. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is a federal law aimed at safeguarding inmates from sexual violence.

According to this law, correctional facilities are permitted to implement video surveillance as a means to assist in reducing violence in various ways. This may involve the installation of cameras to monitor blind spots created by line-of-sight challenges due to the design of the facility. Additionally, it can be utilized to fulfill the staffing requirements set forth by the law. Rather than increasing personnel, a facility may employ a video surveillance system to demonstrate adherence to these regulations. This is a significant factor, as facilities are obligated under the law to create and document staffing plans that effectively ensure the protection of inmates.

Eliminating cross-gender viewing with video masking

PREA also encompasses regulations regarding who is permitted to view video footage. It specifies that facilities must not intermingle genders, meaning that male staff are prohibited from viewing female inmates and vice versa. To ensure adherence to these regulations, correctional facilities may implement video cameras equipped with advanced privacy masking features, such as opaque and pixelated views, in areas where inmate privacy is of utmost importance.

Prison dormitories serve as a prime example. A standard dormitory consists of a room containing beds and a shower area. The shower area lacks doors or curtains, resulting in an entirely open dormitory. To effectively safeguard inmates while simultaneously preserving their privacy and preventing cross-gender viewing, correctional facilities can utilize video cameras that provide a range of masking techniques in various shapes.

Of course, there are instances where someone must view the unmasked footage. This means it’s especially important that correctional facilities deploy video surveillance technology that supports software permissions. This adds an additional dimension that keeps operators accountable for their actions when monitoring inmates.

Another area of concern is interview rooms. These are spaces where attorneys or investigators meet with inmates. As a general rule, you do not want two people in an interview room. One or three are fine, but two, especially if it’s a male investigator and a female inmate, is, according to PREA, against regulations. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, correctional facilities can deploy video cameras that offer people counting analytics.

Using this technology, a facility can establish a virtual line at the interview room door and set up a camera to count how many people enter and exit the space. Using people counting analytics, the camera can determine how many people are in that small room. Then, the system can be set to send an alert if that number is two.

The importance of advanced analytics

Correctional facilities should be looking for more than just standard motion-based detection for their surveillance cameras. In addition to people counting, they also need cameras that support advanced surveillance analytics for virtual areas, virtual lines, and even object detection.

An effective application is a control station located within a unit. A facility aims to prevent inmates from accessing the control station; therefore, they can utilize video cameras equipped with advanced analytics to create a virtual boundary. The facility is able to establish rules within the analytics that allow the cameras to determine when to trigger an alarm. In environments where inmates are dressed in orange and officers in grey, the system can be programmed to recognize if an individual in orange crosses the designated line, subsequently notifying officers of the inmate's presence in the restricted area.